Monty And His Bladder Stone

Monty is a three and a half year old Guinea Pig who came in to see us in April 2013 with blood in his urine. This is commonly caused by cystitis (a bladder infection) but can be caused by Uroliths (Bladder Stones). Monty didn't respond to treatment with antibiotics so the decision was taken to have Monty in for xrays.

There is always a risk with an anaesthesia in an older Guinea Pig but Monty was uncomfortable with his urination and if he had a stone it would need removing. He came in for the day with his on food to give him after the anaesthetic. First Monty was xrayed to check his bladder.

Monty's xrays showed a stone within his bladder:

This meant that Monty needed surgery to fix his problem. Guinea Pigs need to be kept warm throughout surgery so they are surrounded by bubble wrap to stop them losing heat and have a heat mat placed underneath them. During the surgery they have a mask providing oxygen and anaesthetic gas, they also have a Pulse Oximeter attached (the black machine attached to his leg) that helps monitor blood flow and pulse rate.

The surgeon (Anne Abbs) exterorised the bladder and made an incision over the stone before removing it. She then flushed up the urinary catheter that was in place to make sure all the stones and crystals were removed.

This is the stone that was removed from Monty's bladder.

The bladder was then sutured and finally the muscle and skin layers were closed as well. The catheter was removed and Monty was kept warm until he started to wake up.